How to improve health care in Canada

Expanding public funding for cost-effective treatments, investing in primary care, embracing technology and engaging patients are some of the ways Canada can improve the quality of health care, according to an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

In her new book, Better Now, Dr. Danielle Martin — a family doctor and vice-president of medical affairs and health system solutions at Women’s College Hospital — puts forward six ideas to improve health care in Canada. Rick Madonik photo Toronto Star via Getty Images. An edited version appears here from Saving Public Health Care in Canada Is Not Beyond Our Reach. Speakers’ Spotlight

“The quality of health care in Canada is good, but arguably not great,” write Drs. Irfan Dhalla and Joshua Tepper of Health Quality Ontario. “With thoughtful change, we could all benefit from a health care system that provides safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable and patient-centred care at every opportunity.”

The article looks at the quality of health care in Canada and outlines strategies to improve it at the system level.

“We generally focus our attention at the national level; inevitably, this obscures important differences within Canada, between provinces and territories, and also between groups (e.g., Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous Canadians),” write the authors. “Also, although we focus here on health care, this does not diminish the importance of income, housing, education, social networks and other determinants of health.”

The authors suggest the following to improve care:

Expand public funding for treatments shown to be cost-effective — for example, funding psychotherapy for people with depression

Invest in primary care – there is still a gap in primary care, and efforts should move beyond payment reform alone to improve this important area

Use electronic information systems that help doctors work together — growing evidence speaks to the benefits of health care records that can be accessed by patients and physicians alike

Engage patients to help determine what services should be offered — for example, patients at a large Ontario family practice clinic suggested new ways to improve services that staff had not considered

Standardize and embed quality-improvement tools, such as guidelines — this will help standardize practice and reduce variability based on clinical knowledge or available resources